Years ago, Bishop Milton Wright brought a rubber band-powered helicopter to his sons, Orville and Wilbur, who were then 7 and 11 years old. The Wright brothers later claimed that their interest in flight began with this gift.

Another child, age 5, was sick in bed. His father brought him a magnetic compass. The boy could not get the compass to point in any direction but north. There was “something behind things, something deeply hidden,” he observed. The boy was Albert Einstein.

Doable Renewables: 16 Alternative Energy Projects for Young Scientists(Chicago Review Press) is dedicated to “the unknown kid who is going to change the world.” The projects in this book will help any budding scientist construct and explore working models that generate renewable, alternative energy.